Giving in to the fans rarely, if ever, works in the favor of a pro sports front office. Putting a band-aid on a gun shot wound.

Sox never use the word transition or better yet, “bridge.” They don’t care about arbitration clocks if a guy is ready and baseball philosophy seems to be changing and that teams want to take advantage of players in their youth while they can. It is a different ball game right now and the Sox would be going with the new philosophy of speed if both Bradley and Elsbury are in the OF together which I hope to see.

As SC said, rushing Boegarts to start his arbitration clock isn’t the wisest move. Red Sox need to play out this year, see what they have, and then start promoting prospects in August/September.

Historically they haven’t rushed their players but they are seeing signs of a kid who is ready. I have read that some in the organization want him to begin in AAA and be ready to be called up early while some say AA for a month then let him go to AAA where he should be ready by late June.

His power is off the charts and I highly doubt they are waiting till ’14 to bring him up. We will know for sure this off season if they bring a SS to platoon but I think they go with Iglesias for a short period and around June, the kid comes up.

In a transition year where the team is unlikely to compete it makes little sense to start a player’s arbitration clock.

but won’t have the power that Elsbury has displayed

Not sure Ellsbury has that power, actually. Having two OFs that can cover some serious ground in Fenway is a major plus. Plus, they can both go the other way and get their doubles off the Monster. It leaves LF wide open for a defensively challenged slugger to park himself.

They already said they are not moving him off SS because he moves well there. He may actually start off in AA and quickly move up to AAA.

I don’t doubt that he starts in AA to start. However Boston historically outside of Middlebrooks hasn’t rushed their prospects.

Sincerely,
J-Mac

I laughed

This surprising afternoon baseball talk has made today better

Prospectus, BA and MLBTR have been putting out some great stuff for about two weeks now. AFL reports, arbitration calendars, off-season outlook series at MLBTR, the top 10 prospect series at BP and Badler’s stuff at BA have all been good offseason filler. The read on the Indians horrendous drafts this morning was quite good.

Only two weeks until the Winter Meetings in Nashville. It’s bargain shopping time right now, which, as a Cubs fan has me interested in who else they can find in those Wal-Mart clearance bins.

Smart move by the Jays. Tiger Woods HGH doctor probably still has some peers lurking in Toronto. Cabrera will be doping in no time.

No doubt. The Jays obviously know how to beat the testing since Bautista never gets caught.

Sincerely,
J-Mac

They already said they are not moving him off SS because he moves well there. He may actually start off in AA and quickly move up to AAA. His power is off the charts and I highly doubt they are waiting till ’14 to bring him up. We will know for sure this off season if they bring a SS to platoon but I think they go with Iglesias for a short period and around June, the kid comes up.

I would think the Sox only need one long-term answer in the OF because Bradley Jr. should be an everyday player in the show.

Agreed. I think they should try to trade for someone like Willingham if the Twins finally decide to rebuild.

That kind of timing worked out OK for the big prospects last year.

The O’s won 3 Gold Gloves this year, King of the Elephants.

Got it.

With Rusty gone

I noticed his absence lately, ban hammered I take it?